FORT WORTH – TCU men's tennis is just weeks removed from polishing off its most successful season in its 49-year history, and while student athletes have scattered for the summer, the Horned Frogs are showing no signs of slowing down.
Six members of TCU's 2023 squad are enjoying landmark summers on the professional circuit, competing across the United States and Europe on the ATP Tour and ITF Men's World Tennis Tour.
In recent years, an overarching goal of players who pass through the purple courts is to one day compete alongside three-time TCU men's tennis All-American Cam Norrie on the ATP main draw. And on June 22, fifth year senior
Jake Fearnley realized the feat.
Fearnley was awarded a wild card onto the main doubles draw of The Championships, Wimbledon 2023. He received the call-up to tennis' most storied tournament after winning the Rothesay Open Men's Doubles Championship on June 17 in Nottingham, England. Fearnley became the second active Horned Frog to receive a Grand Slam main draw selection.
An Edinburgh, Scotland native, Fearnley added 125 points to his ATP doubles ranking in addition to earning the right to join his countryman Norrie in London. Fearnley ascended to a career-high No. 425 in the ATP doubles rankings.
He also qualified for the ATP Challenger Tour Accelerator Programme after finishing in the top-20 of the final ITA singles rankings on June 4. Fearnley can now compete in up to eight Challenger 50 and 75 tournaments over the summer.
Equally hot in western Europe is the recently graduated
Sander Jong, who embarked on his professional journey following TCU's Final Four run in the NCAA D1 Men's Tennis Championship. Jong has produced a 10-2 record on the ITF Tour over the last month. On Sunday, he won his first professional title, capturing the M15 Saarlouis singles championship in Germany. He defeated Switzerland's Jeffrey Von Der Schulenburg 6-1 6-0 in the final.
Another Frog who returned home across the pond and is amidst a breakthrough summer is Spain's
Pedro Vives. The rising junior reached his first career futures final on June 18, as he advanced to the singles championship of the M25 Martos. Vives followed up the performance by advancing to a second consecutive final on Sunday, this time on clay at the M25 Muniga. A native of Palma de Mallorca, Vives has tacked on 32 points to his ATP singles ranking.
In the United States,
Sebastian Gorzny garnered eight ATP singles points after reaching the semifinals of the M25 Wichita on June 16 in just his second tournament of the summer. Along the way, Gorzny avenged his NCAA semifinal defeat to Ohio State's Alexander Bernard via a 6-3, 6-1 singles sweep. The soon-to-be sophomore also downed ITF world junior No. 1 Bruno Kuzuhara before dropping a 6-4, 1-6, 5-7 heartbreaker in the semifinals to Ozan Colak.
Fellow underclassman
Jack Pinnington has steadily accumulated ATP points as well. He notched singles victories at the M25 Wichita and M25 Tulsa. Pinnington, a rising sophomore, is training at TCU from June 26-30 before flying cross-continental to play five 25k futures tournaments in his native Great Britain.
Lastly, fellow Brit
Lui Maxted again flashed his doubles prowess. The junior-to-be reached the semifinals of his first tournament of the summer.
With June in the rearview mirror, the Horned Frogs now turn their attention to July with ample opportunity to augment their torrid run on the Tour.
